NEOPHYTE 



Neophyte (< >i. /"", new; 

 to pla.nl ). Tei in applied iii lin- 

 early Cliii.stian elimvh to newly 

 l>apt i/.ed converts, ss distinguished 

 (nun the i-ati-i-li it Minis (q.v. ). The 

 word is explained by Gregory tho 

 Great as meaning " newly planted 

 in tho faith." Neophytes wore 

 \slntr garments for eight days 

 aft i-r baptism. 8. Paul instructs 

 Timothy (1 Tim. iii. 6) not to make 

 a Mophyto a bishop, but this pro- 

 hibit ionwas sometimes disregarded 

 in exceptional cases, 8. Ambrose 

 being elected bishop of Milan before 

 being baptized, and installed a few 

 days after. The term is also ap|>li< < 1 

 to those newly admitted to the 

 priesthood, or to a religious order. 

 The word is now used in a general 

 sense for a beginner or tiro. 



Neo-Platonism. System of 

 philosophy which attempted to 

 replace the dualism of mind and 

 matter by monism (q.v.), and to 

 solve the problems of virtue and 

 knowledge on a religious basis. 

 Essentially eclectic, it included 

 Pythagorean, Aristotelian, Plato- 

 nic, Stoic, Christian, Jewish, and 

 other Oriental elements. There 

 were three distinct schools of neo- 

 1'lat i HI ism : Alexandrian, Syrian, 

 Athenian. Its chief representatives, 

 Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, Por- 

 phyry, lamblichus the Syrian, and 

 Proclus the Lycian, are treated 

 separately. 



The keynote of the system is 

 supposed direct intercourse with 

 the absolute, divine being as the 

 result of ecstatic visions. There 

 are three cosmical principles: the 

 One, absolute unity, which creates 

 by emanation the Logos (word, 

 reason), containing the ideas of 

 things, which in turn produces the 

 Soul, the principle of movement, 

 which represents the ideas in the ex- 

 ternal world. Individual souls hover 

 between reason and sense, ever 

 striving to free themselves from 

 the shackles of matter, and to return 

 to the world of ideas, there to be ab- 

 sorbed and lost in God. Although 

 it failed as a popular religion, neo- 

 Platonism left permanent traces, 

 seen in Augustine and Boethius, 

 in Giordano Bruno, and Jacob 

 Boehme, in Fichte and Schelling, 

 and modern theosophical specu- 

 lations. See Philosophy. 



Neo - Py thagor eanism . An 

 attempt to revive the doctrines of 

 Pythagoras, combined with Peri- 

 patetic, Stoic, and Oriental ele- 

 ments, which originated at Alex- 

 andria in the 1st century B.C. Its 

 chief representatives were Nigi- 

 dius Figulus, a friend of Cicero, and 

 Apollonius of Tyana. Many forged 

 treatises were put forward by en- 

 thusiasts as genuine works of 

 Pythagoras (q.v.). 



5079 



Neoptolemus UK I'vmturs. In 

 Greek legend, son of AdiilleH. He 

 i"ined die Greek forces before 

 Tm\ in the tenth year of 1 1 

 a soothsayer !M\ nr.' declared that 

 the assistance of Neojitoleinus and 

 Philoctetea was necessary to end 

 the war. Neoptolemus was one of 

 those who were concealed in the 

 Wooden Horse tho stratagem 

 \vhidi led to the fall of the city. He 

 killed with his own hand Priam, 

 the king, whose daughter, Poly- 

 xena, he sacrificed to the shade of 

 Achilles. At the distribution of the 

 spoil, Andromache.Hector's widow, 

 fell to his lot. He subsequently 

 married Hermione, daughter of 

 Menelaus, and was slain at Delphi 

 by Orestes, to whom Hermione 

 had been promised. 



Neosho. River of the U.S.A. 

 Rising in the east-central part of 

 Kansas, it flows S.E. and S. into 

 Oklahoma, where it turns S.W. by 

 S. to the Arkansas river, near Fort 

 Gibson. Its length is nearly 400 m. 



Neozoic (Gr. neoa, new ; zde, 

 life). In geology, all the strata 

 from the Trias to recent times. The 

 word has been used by some geo- 

 logists as synonymous with the 

 Cainozoic era. 



Nepal. Independent kingdom 

 of N. India. It lies N. of the plains 

 among the Himalayas and adjoins 

 Tibet on the N., and Sikkim on the 

 E. Dhaulagiri and Everest are 

 within the state, which is drained 

 by the upper waters of the Gogra, 

 Gandak, and Kosi. The lower 

 slopes are rainy and forest covered, 

 yielding sal and sisu ; the valleys 

 are cultivated for rice, millets, 

 tobacco, and oil seeds. Some of 

 these crops are exported in ex- 

 change for cottons and metal 

 goods. Trade is maintained with 

 Tibet. Government is a military 

 oligarchy, the royal authority 

 being invested in the prime min- 

 ister. The people are the dominant 

 Gurkhas and aborigines of Mon- 

 golia origin. The British resident in 

 the capital, Khatmandu, takes no 

 active part in the internal adminis- 

 tration ; although Gurkhas enlist 

 in the Indian army, no explorer is 

 allowed within the country, which 

 is almost as unknown as Tibet. 

 Garhwal and Kumaon became part 

 of the United Provinces after the 

 war of 1814-16. Area 54,000 sq. 

 m. Pop. 5,500,000. 



Nepenthes. Genus of insect i- 

 rorous plants, commonly known 

 as pitcher-plants (q.v.). 



Nepheline. In mineralogy, a 

 silicate of aluminium and sodium. 

 Colourless to light yellow, red, or 

 green in colour, it has a glassy or 

 greasy lustre according to the 

 variety. It is found in volcanic 

 rocks, and certain crystalline rocks, 



NEPHRITIS 



tut syenite, in Italy, France, N. and 

 S. America, etc. Varieties of 

 nephcline are used as gemstones. 



Nephin. Mountain of Ireland. 

 One of I!H i unit* in oo. 



Mayo, it w sitimt<-d 10 m. >.W. \ 

 Baflina ; alt. 2,646 ft To the W. is 

 Nephin Beg, alt. 2,065 ft. 



Nephoscope. ((Jr. ntphos, 

 cloud; xkiijuiii, to observe). In 

 meteorology, an instrument for 

 measuring the motions of clouds. 

 In its simplest form it consists of a 

 horizontal circular mirror, in which 

 the cloud is reflected. The motion 

 of the cloud is observed through 

 a movable eye-piece, such that 

 the cloud image is kept ap- 

 parently in the centre of the 

 mirror. The movement of the eye- 

 piece over a graduated arc at- 

 tached to the mirror, which has 

 also a graduated concentric circle 

 attached to it, enables the observer 

 to calculate the rate and direction 

 in which the cloud is travelling. 

 See, Cloud ; Meteorology. 



Nephrite (Gr. nephros, kidney). 

 In geology, a variety of amphibole. 

 White to dark green in colour, it is 

 a calcium, magnesium, ferrous sili- 

 cate, and has been highly valued 

 as an ornamental stone in all 

 countries and ages. Carved orna- 

 ments of nephrite have been found 

 among the remains of primitive 

 man in large numbers in China and 

 Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, 

 France, etc. The word jade is used 

 to describe this mineral and jade- 

 ite, as they are extremely similar 

 in appearance. Jadeite, however, 

 is easily fusible, whereas nephrite 

 is infusible. See Jade. 



Nephritis. Inflammation of 

 the kidney. It may be acute or 

 chronic. Acute nephritis may be 

 due to exposure to cold and wet, 

 particularly after excessive in- 

 dulgence in alcohol ; poisoning by 

 substances which irritate the 

 kidneys, such as cantharides, tur- 

 pentine, potassium chloride ; and 

 may occur in the course of vari- 

 ous diseases, particularly scarlet 

 fever, and less frequently enteric, 

 measles, diphtheria, chicken-pox, 

 and others. It may also be associa- 

 ted with syphilis and tuberculosis. 

 When due to exposure to cold, the 

 onset is abrupt. When occur- 

 ring in the course of fevers, the 

 symptoms appear more gradually. 

 Shivering fits and rise of tem- 

 perature may be the first signs. 

 Dropsy occurs early, and may be 

 first noticed as. a puffiness of the 

 face, or swelling of the ankles. 



The patient should be kept in 

 bed, and the kidneys relieved of 

 their functions as much as possible, 

 by stimulating the excretory activ- 

 ities of the skin and bowels. Sweat - 

 ing may be produced by hot air or 



